1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a new and improved container having a tamper-evident band and a lid for closing the container. More particularly, the invention relates to a thin-walled, wide mouth container having a band which is curled inwardly to retain the lid on the container. The band must be fractured or removed from the container before the lid may be removed from the container.
2. Description of Related Art
The use of tamper-evident bands on containers of this general type is known in the art. Letica U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,364 shows a container having a tamper-evident band and a lid for closing the container. However, the lid is held in place by snap action, not the tamper-evident band. In the present invention, a portion of the tamper-evident band is deformed inwardly to retain the lid on the container. Thus, the band of the present invention provides a highly effective tamper-evidencing means as the band must be fractured or removed before the lid may be removed from the container.
Curling of plastic cylindrical bands is known in the art. For example, applying a concave tool to the edge of a cylindrical plastic member is shown in numerous patents to Thompson, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,708,255; 4,709,824; 4,793,506; 4,872,304; 4,823,967; 4,811,857; and 5,856,667. These patents disclose a resilient curled bead which is compressed when a screw closure is applied to a container neck. Similar curling techniques are employed in the present invention to curl the tamper-evident band. However, the inwardly deformed portion of the band is employed for a totally different purpose than the curled beads of the foregoing Thompson patents, namely, the band curls over a portion of the lid and prevents removal of the lid so long as the band is intact.